


lunch

by mixians



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 08:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixians/pseuds/mixians
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>he decides he'll come back again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lunch

The first time Zitao comes to the park, he is running.

A few stop to stare as he, clutching the small bag of food, passes, easily outrunning the middle-aged man behind him. He finally finds a dark, quiet spot next to a large bush and takes a good look at the food: a small loaf of bread, an apple, and some ham—not much, and not enough for the police to really care, but still a good enough lunch. It’ll get him by, Zitao decides.

Breaking a piece of bread off, Zitao watches as children play in a large sandbox and run about on the field, only looking away when his eyes follow a girl to the man she’s hiding behind. He’s tall, striking—maybe because of the fact that he looks kind of scary, Zitao thinks—and appears to be alone. Zitao isn’t quite sure why, but the only thing he can look for the rest of his lunch is the man.

He decides he’ll come back again. Soon.

 

//

 

On Yifan’s first day of work, he goes to the nearby park for his lunch break.

It’s kind of nice, he thinks, and really peaceful—that is, until a black blur speeds past, followed not long after by what appears to be a local grocery store owner.

When it’s apparent that whoever he was chasing has disappeared, the man curses loudly (this draws many dirty looks from the children’s mothers) and angrily walks off; Yifan looks around and spots the previously running boy sitting in the shaded area next to a bush. He’s young, thin—too thin, Yifan thinks—and probably not much shorter than Yifan, and underneath the sharp, gaunt facial features, he looks almost softly feminine (Yifan vaguely decides that it’s pretty, then tries to pretend the thought never crossed his mind).

He only looks away when a young girl, giggling, ducks behind him, grabbing onto his legs. “Hide me, mister! The monster’s coming!”

After that, the children all seem to decide that Yifan is a good hiding place, so he spends the rest of his lunch break letting them crawl all over him as they play.

It’s only when he’s walking back to work that he realizes that he hasn’t eaten lunch yet. There’s a nice enough restaurant next to the park, Yifan remembers, so maybe he’ll come back sometime. The kids are pretty cute anyways, so it really wouldn’t hurt…

 

//

 

Going to the park has become a regular thing for Zitao—and for the tall guy, too, he’s noticed—and most afternoons, he’ll sit at his place by the bush with whatever he’s managed to get for lunch, trying to watch the little kids play (but really, he’s watching that man, even though he still doesn’t know his name and he still thinks he’s a little scary-looking).

This is the nicest things have been in ages, Zitao realizes, since his dad kicked him out; with hardly any money and no home, everything’s been relatively unstable and Zitao thinks he was kind of lost, but now he’s established something like a… routine. It’s comfortable. Good. He likes it.

 

//

 

Yifan tells himself that it’s for the kids. And the food at the restaurant. (It’s not, of course, and he knows it.)

Sometimes he gets a little caught up in it, sneaking glances at that kid (who is always dressed in the same black clothes, and Yifan wonders why) out of the corner of his eye, and he’s late going back to work at the music store, but he can’t bring himself to regret anything. There’s just something about the kid that’s endlessly intriguing—not that Yifan is ever going to do anything to satisfy that curiosity. Apart from continuing to go back every afternoon, that is. Yifan thinks that it’s good enough. (But he’s pretty sure that one day it won’t be.)

 

//

 

It’s a sunny afternoon, and Zitao is finally leaving the park for the day. The man has just gone, and he figures that now’s a good time to leave as any, so he heads back to the entrance of the park, head bowed, but almost topples over when he bumps into something—someone. Scowling, he looks up, ready to snap at whoever is in his way, only to see the same person he’s been watching for the past month, and suddenly he’s kind of speechless; it’s like his mind has gone completely blank.

“Ah, sorry,” the man says (and immediately Zitao decides that he  _loves_  this person’s voice), “I was just coming back to get something and I wasn’t looking at where I was going—I really didn’t mean to bump into you. Are you okay?”

Zitao manages a nod, and the man continues (Zitao thinks he might be rambling a bit), “It’s funny. I’ve seen you here a lot, but we’ve never really spoken—I’m Wu Yifan, but most people call me Kris. So. Um. I guess you can, too.”

Smiling a little bit at the other’s nervousness now, Zitao nods and says, “Huang Zitao. It’s nice to meet you.”

(Zitao isn’t quite sure why, but he thinks that this is the start of something really, really special.)


End file.
